Page 50 - Wonderful Women of Virtue.cdr
P. 50
Seena Sreevalson - The legend goes like this: Lord Vishnu once came to the assist of the Gods by a celestial appearance of the beautiful enchantress Mohini to
seduce their arch nemesis, the Asuras, also called as demons. He would retrieve the very elixir of life from them, which is said to have appeared when the Ocean of
Milk was churned.
The temple dancers of old are said to be the first to have started this dance form in commemoration of this great mythological event, and the world was eternally
blessed with the captivating classical dance form, Mohiniyattam. Honorable Poet/Artist Seena Sreevalson is a multi-talented artist from God's own country-
Kerala.
Personal Profile: Poet/Translator/Editor/Dancer/Teacher/Mother and a lot more.. Determined, Brave, Strong, Caring. Mother of two loving daughters. Who
loves art forms, freedom, education, and equality. Who loves to stand up for her beliefs, and express feminine sensibilities, nature, ecological issues and social
Seena Sreevalson
issues through poems. Who poignantly experiments in visual aspects of poetry through classical dance. Who started writing poetry when she was a kid and won
titles Kalathilakam and Sargaprathibha (titles awarded for the highest achievement in school youth festival and university zonal arts festival). Who authored and
published two books: Kukkinikkattayum Punnagachettum (poems Malayalam), When my hair caught fire (poems, English). Who compiled and edited The
Current, An International Anthology of English Poems. Who introduces poems written in far corners of Earth in her motherland by translating it in Malayalam
while her own poems are translated into Tamil, Kannada, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Hindi and Arabic. Who trains teachers, organizes prime poetry festivals, delivers
speeches on art and literature. Born on 08/05/1981 and proud of being a resident in Kerala, India
Persona: She has been learning dance since the age of 5 and her performances translate poetry through the traditional Kerala dance of Mohiniyattam. She stresses
the visual aspects of poetry and has learned from legends. Her first guru was Padmanaban master, she started learning Mohiniyattam from Kalamandalam
Ambika and Bharatanatyam from Kalamandalam Sarojini.She has presented her poems in several national and international poetry festivals. Her poems have
also been featured in many international poetry anthologies. She has compiled and edited an International Anthology The Current which consists poems from
40 nations across the Globe She has directed Prime Poetry Festival, Kerala 2019. She has participated and presented poems in literary camps conducted by
Kerala Sahithya Academy, Samastha Kerala Sahithya Parishad , Kerala Arts and Literature Academy and Kerala institute for children's literature. She has
choreographed and presented poems of Poonthanam, ONV Kurupu, Ezhuthachan and Prabha Varma and performed mohiniyattam at Malayalam Kavitha
Karnival, Amaravathi poetic Prism, Guntur International Poetry Festival, National Poets and writers meet,Poonthanam Sahithyothsavam etc
She has attended a number of National and International Seminars, details below:
Ecocritical reading of the Malayalam Film 'Drishyam, Down to Earth, National Seminar on Ecological Orientations in Literature, at ASAS, Amrutha
Vishwavidya Peetham, 2014.
Life between Lion and La Mar – A critical interpretation of Santiago's Life and dream in Hemingway's The Old Man and The Sea, with special reference to
Modernism in America.
(UGC sponsored national seminar on American Literary Movements: A Reappraisal, 2014) Body, Sexuality and Identity: A Review of Socio – political Agenda
in 'Ancient Promises ', by Jaishree Mishra. (National Seminar on Indian Literature in English at Pondicherry Central University March 2014).
48 | Dr. K.C. Sethi & Sunita Sethi 25 Wonderful Women of Virtue | 49

